"If you are serious about this triage, I would think you would be turning over every stone to find a physician."
"I am your staunchest supporter, but I will be your harshest critic when it needs to be."
"The starting point for all that we do has to be the veteran; if we are going to improve their health outcomes, we have to get them directly involved in the process."
"This is the only thing that matters, and this is the only reason the VHA should exist."
"It does not make sense to have over 150 individual performance pay policies as is currently the case."
"We owe it to the thousands of professionals at the VA who are doing things right, and, most importantly, we owe it to the veterans in their care to get this problem fixed."
"It is clear that the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) current performance review and performance pay systems are part of the problem."
"I just had a couple questions for me and for others listening who might not know this."
"Conservation is this Subcommittee's bread and butter too."
"I want to thank my friend also for giving us this opportunity to discuss the issue of clean water, the impact on agriculture and conservation and our rural communities."
"Did you anticipate there would be this type of, I guess, concern and level of concern? Did it surprise you when you heard this or were you prepared for that?"